


The Proposal

by Forever_Daydreaming



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:58:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7859065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Daydreaming/pseuds/Forever_Daydreaming





	1. Chapter 1

They’d been sat around a table in the church hall for most of the evening, laughing and drinking with Vic and Adam whilst Liv looked after their little toddler Emilia, allowing Vic and Adam to relax and not be running around under tables all night. Plus they’d only been faced with interrogation from a few stray Dingles about their relationship, acting like it was fresh off the press despite approaching their two year anniversary. Initially they had preferred to have stayed in and avoided the small talk with people they walk past daily or the family members they have only ever met at special occasions but trying to get out of a Dingle family event was like trying to beat an army with a single rifle - impossible! Suddenly the bride and groom made their way to the floor for their first dance together as husband and wife, honestly if someone had told them a few months ago that Marlon and Carly would be getting hitched they would’ve laughed in their face but here they were, shoving their fingers up at the world and showing off their marriage to everyone they knew - proud to be in love.

It got quite late into the evening and practically everyone was dancing the night away, Liv had offered to take Emilia back to Vic and Adam’s and put her to bed and had left the party about an hour before. They had all sat around the table chatting away until a slow-dance song was played and Vic dragged Adam to the dancefloor in her slightly ‘merry’ state. Unexpectantly Robert took Aaron’s pint from his hand and pulled him up before also walking him to the dancefloor despite Aaron’s reluctance. He never liked having any form of attention, let alone dancing with his boyfriend whilst all his family watched but with Robert’s suit, his ruffled hair as a result of the day’s events and his irresistible smile, how could he not give him what he wanted? He lifted his arms so that they were wrapped around Robert’s neck as Robert pulled Aaron closer by his waste, swaying slowly to the music relaxing into each other’s embrace. 

“Eh, you two will be next!” They looked up to see Vic smiling widely at the couple, clearly overwhelmed by the romantic atmosphere that had taken over the whole day. Right there it hit him, Aaron realised that that was what he wanted. He already knew he loved Robert more than anyone he had ever known, he knew he wanted to spend his life with him, but marriage, like actual husband-husband marriage, had never properly crossed his mind. He quickly observed Robert’s reaction to Vic’s comment and he noticed he just smiled at her and laughed gently before looking back at his boyfriend, the look of pure adoration and happiness flooding his face.

“I love you,” Robert whispered gently pressing his forehead against Aaron’s,

“I love you too.” Aaron replied closing his eyes as they continued swaying to the music.

“Maybe she had a point,” Robert murmured as they danced for what felt like the remainder of the evening…

 

Maybe she had a point.

For the following weeks those words were stuck on replay in his mind, constantly thinking about what Robert had meant or intended. Was he being serious? Does he want that too? He had been quiet all day as he was having a constant internal debate with himself.

“Oi! You lost your voice or something?” Adam called whilst scrapping one of the cars they had.

“What?”

“You! You’ve barely spoken a word all day. Is everything alright? It’s not Robert again is it?”

“What? No it’s - well - what do you mean again?” Aaron replied with his confused look plastered on his face, his response causing Adam to laugh.

“Chill man, it’s just you look like you’ve got something on your mind, that’s all.”

“Right don’t tell anyone yet but I was thinking of maybe, you know, cause it’s been playing on my mind and I’ve thought about it a lot, actually more than a lot-”

“-Mate! Spit it out will ya I haven’t got all day.

"I was thinking of… proposing.” Aaron muttered looking down and kicking the stones around with his feet

“What? To Robert?” Adam said taken a back and raising his eyebrows.

“No to that alright looking postman- of course Robert you muppet!” Aaron remarked sarcastically lifting his eyes to meet Adam again.

“Aaron that’s great news, he’ll definitely say yes man, when you gonna do it then?”

“I dunno, maybe next weekend, you know, anniversary and that.” Aaron answered, hinting for Adam’s opinion.

“Ey I knew you were a little romantic,” Adam laughed, jokily grabbing Aaron in a headlock.

“Right,” Aaron laughed shoving Adam away, “That’s the last time I’m telling you anything! Anyway I said id meet my mum for dinner so ill see you later.” He said as he begun walking off.

“Yeah see ya later,” Adam replied, “Oh mate!” He shouted after Aaron causing him to turn around, “I knew you had a thing for that postman.” He said winking at his best friend, leaving Aaron laughing and shaking his head as he turned back around to walk away.

 

“Hiya love,” Chas spoke as she saw Aaron come through the pub door. “Take a seat love, I’ll join you in a minute.”

“Actually mum, can I speak to you in the back,” He asked before seeing Diane in the corner and walking over to her, “Err Diane can I have a word in the back, please?” 

“Course pet.” Diane looked up with her glowing smile and excused herself from Doug before following Aaron into the back room. Chas was sat on the sofa with a pint and a cup of tea waiting for Aaron, confused when he was followed by Diane. Aaron ushered Diane to take a seat next to Chas and pulled up a chair before sitting down and taking a deep breath, nervous about what he was about to share with them.

“Aaron love is everything alright?” Chas questioned when Aaron remained silent biting his lip. 

“Err yeah everything’s fine,” He took another deep breath, “Well you know how me and Robert have been together for two years and are really happy and things are going great between us… well I was thinking about asking him if he wanted to get married.” He took a pause to allow the women to digest the information before noticing the unreadable look on Chas’ face. “Mum?”

“That’s great Aaron love,” Diane cut in, defusing the tension, “But I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”

“Well I figured you would appreciate the whole 'getting a blessing off the parents’ thing and you’re like a mum to Robert so I just thought… sorry.” Aaron said shaking his head, feeling like he was already messing his proposal up before even talking to Robert.

“Don’t be silly pet, that’s so thoughtful of you,” She said smiling softly, “Of course you have my blessing, you’re one of the best things to ever happen to Robert and he’d be a fool to not say yes,” She said pulling him into a hug before going to leave back into the pub, “Good luck with the proposal love.” Which Aaron gave a nod of appreciation to. Aaron quickly returned his gaze to his mum who looked slightly less shocked than before, even a hint of a smile creeping onto her face.

“Mum? Listen, if this is too much for you to deal with right now I can wait, it’s just you know how happy he makes me and how much he has changed my life for the better and I just feel like it’s the right time you know?” He said as he took a place next to his mum on the sofa, “Mum please say something.”

“Aaron, I love you more than anything in the world,” She said looking into his eyes and smiling, “All I want is for you to be happy… God knows you deserve it,” She said a tear falling from both their eyes, “And if getting married is what you really want - ”

“ - It is, more than anything.” Chas lifted her hand to cup his cheek.

“Then of course I’m alright with you two getting married, I’ve never seen two people love each more than you two do, he makes you happy which makes me happy because that is the most important thing in the world,” Tears were now falling from both their eyes as they shared this moment, “Come here,” She said pulling him into a tight hug.

“Thank you mum,” Aaron said as he hugged her tighter, “I love you so much, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Don’t be soft,” She laughed pulling back and wiping the ran makeup from under her eyes. “Now you, back to work, you’re gonna have to pay for this big white wedding.” She said laughing softly before kissing him on the cheek.

“Yeah,” He smiled, “See ya later.”

 

For the next week he was thinking about different ways he could ask the question. How? Where? What to say? All he knew was that he would do it on Saturday - their second anniversary…


	2. Chapter 2

For the next week, Aaron focussed on nothing but the proposal. He’d spent every single day thinking of the perfect way to ask him whilst trying to secretly prepare everything for Saturday, the day which would change both of their lives in one way or another…

It was a typical spring morning, the warm sun shone through their curtains, slowly bringing both men into consciousness. Usually they would remain in bed for a few hours as it was the weekend, just drifting in and out of sleep. Today, Aaron woke up first but didn’t leave Robert resting as usual, instead started planting soft kisses up the older mans chest before reaching his lips where he kissed him softly causing him to wake up.

“Mmmm.” Was the only response he got from Robert, clearly still half asleep.

“Mornin’” Aaron whispered, leaning in to give Robert another kiss. “Happy anniversary.” This caused Robert to almost wake up immediately, opening his eyes to take in the view of his boyfriend, ruffled bedhead and a dopey smile. He pulled Aaron closer by his waist and placed his hand gently on his neck.

“Happy anniversary.” He replied before kissing Aaron much more passionately than before, rolling him over so he hovered above him, continuing to kiss him whilst doing so. They remained like this for a few minutes, enjoying the embrace of each other before pulling apart only to rest their foreheads against each other’s and looking into each others eyes lovingly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Aaron said leaning in and kissing Robert one more time before jumping out of bed and putting his dressing gown on, leaving a rather confused Robert lay on their bed.

“Er what are you doing?” Robert asked, unsure of why Aaron was breaking their habit of staying in bed till dinner by getting up at 9am.

“Busy day,” Aaron smirked winking at his boyfriend, “Come on, get dressed.” He laughed throwing a pair of boxers towards Robert.

 

“So,” Robert started, reaching out to hold Aaron’s hand as they walked out of their house, a big enough place they’d bought in the village about a year ago, “When do I get to find out what we’re doing today?” He asked looking towards Aaron.

“It’s a surprise!” Aaron laughed as this felt like the millionth time Robert had asked him that question. They spent the day totally engrossed in each others company, reminiscing on the past 2 years they had spent together as an official couple - the stupid little fights about what they watched on the telly, all the times they had ‘the best night of their lives’, moving in together…

Aaron started the day by taking them on a morning walk through the countryside which still had the golden glow to it whilst the sun continued to rise, they would often go on walks together on special occasions as it was one of the only times they could be truly alone with no interruptions, able to just be together. 

“This is my surprise?” Robert asked confused as it was such a normality to them that he was already expecting it.

“Never in my life have I met someone so - ,” Aaron laughed shaking his head, “I’ll give you a clue,” He smirked leaning in to whisper in Robert’s ear, “This isn’t your surprise, you impatient child.” He pulled away and started to carry on walking leaving Robert just staring at his boyfriend fondly. As they returned to the village, Aaron led them up to the cricket pavilion. During the affair, they had once spent a night on the pavilion whilst Aaron was staying at home farm. Robert had surprised him, woke him up in the middle of the night, took him their and they watched the sun ruse together, like a proper couple - it was one of the most romantic things Robert had ever done for him, well as romantic as he could get during a secret affair.

As they approached the hill Robert noticed a blanket lay on the floor and a hamper filled with food, as he got closer he realised it was filled with his favourite foods and drink. Aaron had managed to rope Vic into helping him and had promised to make the picnic ready for them, just as usual she didn’t let him down at all.

“See,” Aaron started taking a seat next to Robert on the carefully laid blanket, “I can do romantic just as well as you.” He smiled.

“Mmmm I’m still a little bit better than you,” Robert flirted before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Aaron’s lips, resting his forehead on Aaron’s before slowly pulling away, “Thank you.”

“Don’t be soft.” Aaron smirked leaning back to lie down. For an hour the two men stayed on the pavilion, eating, drinking, laughing, just spending the best time together. Once they had finished they packed up the hamper and blanket and walked home. Aaron told Robert to get changed into something nice as they both had mud on their clothes from their morning in the countryside and after their interesting shower session and getting dressed, they headed over to the pub.

 

Walking through the doors of the pub, Robert noticed it was full of all their families: Dingles, Sugdens, the occasional Barton, even Liv showed her face despite them knowing Gabby had offered to go into Hotten, clearly all ready for a booze up.

“What’s all this?” He asked Chas.

“Sort of an anniversary do, you know, Marlon and Carly have been married a whole week without any hiccups,” she laughed, “Plus you have managed to make my son very happy for two whole years,” He smiled towards her, “And I think that is definitely something to celebrate, don’t you?” They both glanced over to Aaron who was on the other side of the pub talking to Vic and Adam before turning back towards each other, “Cheers.” Chas lifted her glass.

“Cheers.” They clinked their glasses as Chas turned to serve someone leaving Robert thinking about how far him and Chas have come in the past two years.

 

“Sooo have you done it yet?” Vic said grinning as she approached Aaron whilst he was stood talking to Adam.

“Shhh, keep it down Vic,” Aaron said looking round to see if Robert could’ve heard, luckily he was stood talking to Finn about god knows what, Aaron could never get his head around why they got on so well. “No not yet.”

“Flaming hell mate, take your time why don’t you it’s already 9, anniversaries nearly over.” Adam joked.

“Yeah alright,” He started, “I just want it to be right you know? Oh thanks as well for before Vic, you’re a star.”

“No problem, just get that ring on my brother’s finger.” She smiled before her and Adam went to get more drinks.

 

After another hour of drinking and partying in the pub, Aaron caught Robert’s eye from across the room and nodded for him to follow him into the back room, the same thrill of excitement that their affair held rising in both of them at how they were ‘sneaking around’ once again.

“Come on.” Aaron mouthed towards him flirtily before disappearing into the back room. Robert very quickly ended his conversation and made his way into the living room. When he entered he noticed two glasses of whiskey on the table and Aaron stood beside it.

“This looks familiar.” He smirked closing the door behind him and walking up towards Aaron. The same happened last year on their first anniversary, both poured a drink of whiskey like they had on the first night they got together, it was about as soppy and sentimental they got. Robert walked up to Aaron and grabbed his waist going to pull him in for a kiss but was stopped by Aaron’s hands on his chest.

“Wait,” Aaron said causing Robert to lower his arms,

“What’s wrong?” Robert asked, concern filling his voice.

“Nothing,” He smiled, “That’s the point,” Aaron started causing Robert to look even more confused, “For the past two years I have been the happiest I think I’ve ever been, sometimes its like I’m living someone else’s life, because for so long - I didn’t think anyone would ever really love me,” Robert stepped closer to Aaron as he spoke, “Then you came along,” Aaron smirked, “The great Robert Sugden,” he laughed, “And you know what you did?” Aaron asked raising his eyebrows causing Robert to slowly shake his head,

“What?” Robert whispered.

“You proved me wrong.” He smiled, a tear falling from his eye. “Two years ago today you stood there and promised me you wouldn’t let you down, and you haven’t, yeah you’ve been a but of an idiot sometimes but,” This caused a gentle laugh from both of them, “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I love you more than anything.”

“Even more than the football?” Robert laughed.

“Mmmm I guess so.” Aaron smiled. 

“Well I guess,” Robert paused to look into Aarons eyes, “I love you too.” They looked into each others eyes, so filled with adoration for the other.

“So before I get too soppy,” Aaron said turning around to pick up the whiskeys, “To us.” He said passing Robert a glass.

“To us.” Robert replied cheersing the glasses and drinking the whiskey. As he finished his drink he felt something cold hit his lip. He looked into the glass and saw something that made his heart skip a beat. He tipped up the glass into his hand and a silver ring fell into his palm. He lifted his now tear filled eyes and looked towards Aaron who was smiling softly back at him.

“Surprise.” He said smiling, excited yet still anxious. “What do you say then Sugden,” He began, taking the ring from Robert’s hand and kneeling down in front of him. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” He grinned widely, Aaron quickly jumping back up to his feet after placing the ring on Robert’s finger, trying his best to remember which one it belonged on, not like that was either of their main priority at that point. Robert pulled Aaron closer by his waist as Aaron’s arms rested on Robert’s shoulder linking his hands behind his neck, their foreheads resting against each other, eyes meeting. “Yes.” Robert whispered once again before leaning in and kissing Aaron passionately yet softly, both of them completely embraced in the other, savouring this moment they were sure would be one of the best times of their lives. After a few moments they pulled apart, neither said anything as they both knew exactly how they felt - complete.

“Right Vic, you can come in.” Aaron said loudly, knowing she would’ve been waiting behind the door. Very quickly she came running into the room, followed by Liv and spotted the ring on Robert’s finger, 

“Ahhh congratulations,” They both smiled running to their brothers and hugging them. 

“Right,” Aaron started grabbing Robert’s hand, “Back to the party?” He said turning to look at Robert.

“After you.” Robert gestured.

Once they had arrived back into the bar one by one everyone began to notice the ring on Robert’s finger and congratulated the two of them, everyone offering to buy them a drink, Robert began to see why Aaron had chosen to incorporate a gathering into his plan. All night they drank, laughed and celebrated, excited for what else their future had to hold for them…


End file.
